Can Julia Stewart Save Applebee's?

KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 2, 2008— -- At the Applebee's test kitchen in Kansas City, Mo., nine full-time chefs collaborate to create that certain "menu magic" that entices millions of diners every year.

The ultimate test is the customer, but Applebee's new CEO, Julia Stewart, has to put her stamp of approval on anything that goes out the door and onto the server's tray in preparation for a new menu that will be launched soon.

Earlier this year she got the chance to, in her words, "make the minnow swallow the whale" when IHOP bought Applebee's, the largest casual-dining brand in the world, for $2.1 billion.

"Applebee's needs really fit our core competencies: reenergizing a brand, improving operations," Stewart said. "We had the management capacity and the wherewithal to really make it happen and so we intend to make the same magic at Applebee's that we've been able to do at IHOP."

In an economy that has been particularly unkind to the restaurant industry, chain restaurants could really use some magic. While not suffering like some of its competitors, Applebee's sales fell 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. The company is clearly ripe for a makeover.

Back in the test kitchen, one of the chefs offered her some ribs. After a taste she said she would "be very interested to see what our guest says about that. It has a richness to it. That flavor profile has a richness. Nice job. We'll see, when does this go into test?"

But before the ribs came the pancakes.

"We called it a waitress back then," Stewart said. "Not a food server. And I wore the hat and the apron and the, you know, the cuffs, and I got hooked. I fell in love with the restaurant business. I love the constant feedback. I love the interaction with the guests. I love the ability to make a difference in someone's life in 35 minutes or 40 minutes — from the day I went in the restaurant and put on the uniform and felt proud to be a part of IHOP."